


Another Dead End

by thegalrahobbitofplantetgalilfrey



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Blood, Ed is a shrimp, Gen, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-08
Updated: 2017-05-08
Packaged: 2018-10-29 13:35:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10855053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegalrahobbitofplantetgalilfrey/pseuds/thegalrahobbitofplantetgalilfrey
Summary: Set post-Maes'-death but pre-Father, the Elric brothers stumble on the rarest kind of alchemy; color alchemy.





	1. Chapter 1

“Another dead end. What are we gonna do, Al?” Edward Elric sat down with a thump on the ground. “We’re never gonna find it.”

            “Don’t lose hope, brother! We can still figure it out!”

            “It’s hopeless, short of making our own, and you know why we can’t do that.”

            “Excuse me?” Ed looked up at a brown haired girl with a colorful bandana on her head and paint-stained cloths. “Are you Edward and Alphonse Elric?”

            “Yeah. What’s it to you?” She held up her hands peaceably.

            “I heard you were looking for the philosopher’s stone. I thought I could help.” He snorted.

            “It’s not something we can’t track down in a store. There’s nothing you can do.” She smiled.

            “Oh, I doubt that. You see, I’m very much like him.” She pointed at Al.

            “Huh?”

            “You see, I shouldn’t exist, and yet,” she pulled off her hand, showing them the empty metal shell behind it. “I do.”

            “What… how…”

            “I’ll explain everything, if you come with me. And I’ll help you get what you want.” Ed and Al looked at each other, eyes full of confusion.

           

 

“So you see,” the girl, whose name was Cheyanne began, “I was an artist. My older brother was an alchemist. He specialized in the transmutation of animals. He never tried to make a chimera or anything, he mostly just found hurt animals and fixed them, or made that weakling of the pack strong enough to survive. We lived on a farm, so he was very useful. Then one day, he failed to save his dog. There is no cure for old age. He was devastated, but we all thought he knew that was the order of life. But then his girlfriend and I found him trying to bring his dog back to life. She got in the way, and his first chimera was created.” Ed gasped. Just like Nina.

            “Why would he do that?”

            “She didn’t understand, and to get to him she ran through his transmutation circle while he was in the middle of his alchemy. He wasn’t very experienced and the energy turned wrong. Then he tried to separate them. His girlfriend was hurt badly, and he tried to fix her, but she died while he was in the middle of the transmutation. That time I tried to stop him, because I knew what would happen if he continued. He shoved me away, yelling that I didn’t understand, and when the gates of truth opened up… I was dragged in.”

            “And he bonded you to a statue of yourself.”

            “No. Actually, the only thing on hand was a broom, so I was a broom for a while. But he didn’t use a seal, so I jumped into a statue I made.” She looked at the ground, and if she hadn’t been made of metal, Ed was sure she would have been blushing. “It was actually a Greek style, so, yeah, that was a little embarrassing. I made one out of metal with joints and stuff, one that actually looked like me, and here I am.”

            “Wait, what did your brother give up to get you into a broom?” She looked up, her painted eyes serious.

            “His ability to use alchemy. That’s why he didn’t bother with a seal. He knew it would be ineffective without his powers. Now about a philosopher’s stone. I assume you want one to get a body for your brother.”

            “Yes. Do you know anything about one?”

            “If I tell you, you have to make a body for me too.”

            “Done.” She pulled off her head, and pulled something glowing out of her chest.

            “There. A philosopher’s stone.” Ed stared at her.

            “What… How did you…” She giggled.

            “I already had it. Family heirloom. I just wanted you to promise to make me a body. After all, the stone is the only reason I can stay in this shell without a seal. I had to make sure you wouldn’t just run off with it.

            “You could’ve just asked!”

            “Yes, but telling my life’s story to you was _so_ much fun.”

            “Rrgh! You little…” He jumped at the stone, but she stood on her chair and held it out of reach.

            “Ha! _I’m_ little?”

            “Who are you calling a microscopic pipsqueak!” Al grabbed ahold of his angry brother.

            “Brother, calm down! No one called you a microscopic pipsqueak!” Cheyanne jumped off the chair.

            “Okay, okay, I’m done horsing around.” She opened up her hand and offered the stone to Ed. He was about to take it when a bird swooped in through the window and plucked it from her open palm.

            “Hey!” The bird flew out the window, cawing in triumph. Ed raced to the window and made a grab for it, but it flapped away. A shriek from Cheyanne made him look back. Her body was glowing and her paint was peeling off. A glowing ball jumped out of the shell and dove into a plant outside. The Elric brothers raced out the door.

            “Hurry! Get it back before I explode! I can’t stay in one place for long! Something’s been after me, but the stone kept it away! Now it’s coming! Get it back!” Ed nodded and chased after the bird with the glowing stone.

            “Get! Down! Here!” The bird in the tree cocked its head at Ed before cawing.

            “Brother! Hold still for a moment!” Ed continued jumping for the branch. Al grabbed him around the waist and threw him into the tree. The bird squawked and fluttered away, leaving the stone in its nest. Ed grabbed it before falling out of the tree with a thump.

            “Mission success,” he groaned, “Ouch.”

            They raced back to where they’d left Cheyanne. Things were steaming all around the courtyard, and they could see the little ball of light. She dove into a building, her voice echoing out of it.

            “Thank goodness! Make me a body, quick, before I run out of things to jump to!”

            “How?”

            “What?”

            “How do I make a body?”

            “Just imagine my metal shell, but as a body, and wish for it as hard as you can!” Ed closed his eyes and concentrated. He heard a squeal of delight, but didn’t turn to look at the results. For the philosopher’s stone had broken into two pieces, and the light had faded almost completely from it.

            “No!”

Cheyanne looked at him. “The stone… Let me see that!” She snatched the pieces out of his grasp. “We have to… Come on!” They followed her to her house, but she motioned for them to wait outside while she went inside. Ed sat down on the curb.

            “Great. Another dead end.”

            “Hello. I see you’re having trouble again. Care to come with me?” The brothers looked up to Envy’s wicked smile.

            “Ha! Done! They’re gonna be _so_ happy!” Cheyanne held up the repaired stone to the light. Couldn’t even tell it had been broken. She was getting _good_ at this. A small explosion sounded and she looked out the window. What the… She grabbed a tube of paint and left the building. A woman was standing in her yard, the Elric brothers unconscious. How had she taken them out? Cheyanne knew how powerful the two were.

            “Hi, can I help you?” The woman jumped.

            “Oh, uh, these hoodlums attacked me! I’m taking them to the police!” Cheyanne raised one eyebrow.

            “They attacked you.”

            “Yes.”

            “And they’re the ones unconscious on the ground.”

            “They bit off more than they could chew.”

            “Riiight. What did they attack you with?”

            “Their fists!”

            “So, you caused the explosion?”

            “…Yes?” Cheyanne smiled briskly and grabbed Ed’s arm, hauling him up.

            “Well, in that case, I’ll make a trade. You let me take the ‘hoodlums’ and I won’t charge you for blowing up my lawn. Equivalent exchange and all that.” The woman snarled and changed into the form Cheyanne knew to be Envy.

            “I’m done playing games, color alchemist. You know who I am, and I know who you are. Now, if you don’t want to get hurt, let me have the fullmetal alchemist!”

            “Ehhh, how about… no. She squirted the contents of her paint tube into Envy’s face before grabbing both brothers’ arms and pulling them along, hoping Al would wake up soon, because, by her brother’s lost alchemy powers, he was _heavy_. She heard a howl from Envy. Ed’s eyes flickered open.

            “Cheyanne… get out of here. Leave us.”

            “Never going to happen. You got me a body, and I fixed the stone, and we are going to get you an arm and a leg, hey, that’s funny, you literally paid and arm and a leg for what you wanted, and we are getting Al a body, and I will fight you to my last breath on this, so don’t cross me.”

            “Going somewhere, color alchemist?”

            “Why do you keep calling me that?! I’m not an alchemist! I’ve tried!” Envy stopped.

            “Really? You really don’t know? I see…” he smiled. “In that case…” he picked up a boulder and threw it at them. Cheyanne shielded her face, knowing it would do no good, but the crushing never came. All of the stones were floating in the air, held up by a sweeping torrent of the color blue.

            “Ah. You’ve awakened to your powers, I see. Good. Defeating you will be _fun_.” he charged Cheyanne, who pulled a tube of yellow paint out of her pocket and squeezed it. The yellow formed a barrier around her and the Elric brothers, and all of Envy’s attacks bounced off of it.

            “Ed! Get Al and get out of here! He’s after you!”

            “No way! I’m not going to leave you with him!”

            “Ed, just listen! I don’t know what’s happening right now, and I don’t want to hurt you because I’m out of control! Just get Al and yourself out of here!” Ed nodded and grabbed his brother, who had come back to life.

            “Brother? What’s going on?”

            “No time to explain! We need to get on that roof so we can watch without getting in Cheyanne’s way!” He tugged his brother to the fire escape and watched as Cheyanne used red paint to paint griffins and dragons on the walls. They peeled off and attacked Envy, and she drew more and more along with knights, wizards and even horses. She seemed to get a little weaker every time she did, however, and Envy kept slashing her monsters to pieces with his arm, which he’d turned into a sword. Cheyanne dropped to the ground, exhausted, and Envy sliced the last dragon to a pile of red dust before turning to the drained teen.

            “I’ve got you now, color alchemist.” Her yellow wall weakly tried to protect her, but Envy demolished it. “You’re finished.” Cheyanne smiled weakly.

            “Are you sure about that?” A wall of red swept up from where the remains of her creatures had been and crashed over Envy, sweeping him away. Cheyanne completely collapsed, fully spent. Ed and Al raced as fast as they could to her side. The philosopher’s stone tumbled out of her hand, and the gates of truth opened up. The black tendrils reached for Cheyanne.

“No!” Ed scooped up the philosopher’s stone and grabbed Cheyanne’s arm. Truth’s voice echoed out.

“Let her go. She never should have existed.”

“Never!”

“That stone… It was broken. How is it still here?”

“She fixed it! Let her go!” Truth was silent for a moment.

“That stone should not exist anymore than she should. I am willing to trade, fullmetal. If you give me the stone, I’ll let you have the color alchemist. Or you can keep the stone, and I’ll take her through the gates. Your choice.” Ed thought. He could get his arm and leg back. He could get Al a body. All he had to do was let Cheyanne go. But was letting Cheyanne go worth it? The only reason he hadn’t made his own philosopher’s stone was because he was unwilling to sacrifice human lives. Wasn’t this the same thing? But Cheyanne wasn’t supposed to be alive, right? But then, by that logic, neither was Al. What was the right choice, his brother, or this girl? _We have to look after each other Al, because if we don’t, who will?_ But who was looking after Cheyanne? The philosopher’s stone fell from his hand with a clatter. The black tendrils dived for it and let Cheyanne go. He pulled her backwards, and they fell in a heap.

“Brother? What happened to the stone?”

“It’s gone, Al. And it’s not coming back.”

Cheyanne blinked up at Edward. Where was she? Lying in bed? That’s what it felt like, but she had just been fighting Envy in the street, how had she gotten home? Ed grinned.

“Alright! You’re awake! I thought you wouldn’t make it for a bit!” She blinked twice at him. “You know, you fought Envy? And you won? And then you collapsed, and the gates of truth opened up, and you almost got sucked in? And I rescued you all bravely and dramatically? You remember any of that?”

“I remember the fight with Envy, but nothing after that.” Ed’s shoulders slumped and he sighed dramatically.

“I finally rescue someone from the gates of truth, and they don’t even remember it. Go figure, that’s just my luck.”

“Oh!” Cheyanne tried to sit up, but laid back down when her head started to spin.

“Whoa, take it easy there, paintbrush! Don’t collapse on us again! What’s so important?”

“The philosopher’s stone! Did you get Al a body, and an arm and a leg for yourself? Let me see!” Al and Ed exchanged side glances. Should they tell her? Would she be upset?

“What? Why do you have that look on your face? What happened?”

**______________**

 

“YOU _WHAT_?! YOU TRADED IT?!” The answer was yes; she would be upset. “I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU TRADED IT FOR ME! YOU COULD HAVE HAD EVERYTHING BACK, AND YOU GAVE IT UP!”

“Aren’t you glad we saved you?”

“YES, BUT THERE WERE BETTER WAYS TO DO THAT!”

“Such as?”

“Oh, you know, creating bodies and _then_ handing it over, or saying you’ll hand it over, wait for me to be released, and then make what you want and hand it over after you’re done with it.”

Ed blinked. “I don’t think that would have worked.”

“You could have tried. I can’t believe you gave up your dream for me, I can’t believe…”

“You’re more upset about this than we are, and _we_ needed that stone.”

She smiled a little at that. “I did a good repair job on that stone before you screwed it up.”

“Before _we_ screwed it up?! We were saving your _life_!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought this whole giving up his alchemy was genius, nobody had ever done it, and then, bam. I finished the show. I promise I wasn't trying to plagiarize the show.


	2. Chapter 2

“Sheska? Hey Sheska, are you doing anything important?”

“Yes!” Sheska slammed the door.

“Um, Sheska? You okay?”

The door opened a crack. “Oh, it’s you guys. Sorry, I’m a little… jumpy right now. After Maes’ death… I’m scared someone will try me next. I mean, I worked for him. But I know you guys are fine. Come on in.”

They followed her into her library of a house. “Sheska?”

“Yes?”

“Have you ever read about a… color alchemist?”

“Color alchemist, color alchemist… Hmm. No, I don’t recall reading anything about a color alchemist.”

“Okay, thanks anyway.” Ed turned to leave. “I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this,” he muttered.

 

 

“Hey. Mustang.”

“Well, if it isn’t the diminutive fullmetal alchemist himself. And to what do I owe this small pleasure?”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re hilarious.”

“I rather think so.”

“Listen, have you ever heard of a color alchemist?”

For a moment, there was a change in Roy’s character. He looked serious. But then his demeanor changed back to his normal smug attitude. “I don’t know what you are babbling about. Do you need a drink in this heat? Perhaps some… milk?”

Al dragged his brother out before he could attack the colonel.

 

“He’s lying to us.”

“You _always_ think he’s lying to us.”

“But he really is this time! I can tell!”

“What makes you think that?”

“Just… he changed for a moment. Like he actually seemed serious for an instant, if that’s possible.”

“Right.” Al made the turn to go to their hotel, stopping when Ed didn’t follow. “Aren’t you coming?”

“Nah. I think I’ll take a walk. You go ahead, I’ll meet you there.” Al nodded and walked inside. Ed turned to the apparently empty street. “Do you need something, Colonel?”

Roy Mustang emerged from an alleyway. “I was beginning to think you hadn’t noticed me.”

“No, I did. I just figured that if you had something to tell me that you needed to sneak around for, you must not want Al to know.”

Roy nodded. “That’s right. Now, where did you hear about color alchemy?”

“I heard someone say it, and I wanted to know what it was. You know, in case it’s a way to get our bod-”

“That’s not it. Ed, did you meet a color alchemist?”

Ed smirked at Roy. “Now, how would I know if I’d met one if I don’t even know what they are?”

Roy frowned and sighed. “Fine. Color alchemy is a military secret, because its history is… interesting. Color alchemy isn’t really alchemy. It doesn’t follow the rules of equivalent exchange.”

“What? Even if it’s not real alchemy, it should still require at least that much!”

“It didn’t. And what's more, it didn’t follow the rule that you have to transmute an actual substance. It transmuted the abstract idea of color.”

“Color isn’t an idea! I can see it!”

“Yes, but what you are seeing is what makes up the color. Chemicals, and things that you or I could transmute. They could… it’s hard to explain, they could leave whatever made the color red behind, and it would be stark white. Every chemical would be in place, but it would be white, and the alchemist would be holding a blob of red.”

“Wow. So if people can do this, how come it’s a secret?”

“People… can’t do it.”

“What?”

“Color alchemy extended beyond that. If a color alchemist lived long enough, they would see people’s souls as a color.”

“What, like that aura nonsense?”

“That ‘aura nonsense’ is based on color alchemy. But if a person can see a soul as a color, and that person could control color…”

“They could control that person’s soul. But that doesn’t explain why nobody can do it. Did the military burn every book with color alchemy in it?”

“No. What they did was much, _much_ worse. As bad as the Ishvalin massacre, although it happened seventy years before that horror, well before my time.”

“No…”

“Color alchemy wasn’t something you could learn. You couldn’t pull it from a book. Color alchemy was hereditary. You didn’t even have to have it to have a child with it. It could be hidden in your genes, and show up in a couple of generations. The military decided it was too powerful, it shouldn’t be used, so they…” His voice choked a little. “They exterminated every last color alchemist and every member of their family. Didn’t matter how far apart you were related, if you weren’t an in-law, you were dead. It didn’t matter that you hadn’t had color alchemy for ten generations, that your only relation was a seventeenth cousin who was a color alchemist, it didn’t matter that you were a citizen in Amestris, you were killed on the spot. But they always suspected that a very distant relation that had no color alchemy escaped. So. If you’ve seen a color alchemist, we need to know.”

“Why? So you can kill them?”

“Fullmetal, you don’t understand. That power… that is the power that could destroy the world.” Roy stared Ed in the eye. “If you’ve seen someone use it, we need to know.”

Ed stared right back. Should he tell? Cheyanne didn’t seem like she would destroy the world, but you never knew. “I didn’t see anything like that. A girl squirted paint in a mugger’s face, and he called her a color alchemist. That’s it.”

Roy let out a deep breath, smiling. “Sounds like quite the girl. Well, I should be going back. Take care, Fullmetal.” He walked away.

“Well, well, well. Lying to your superiors. Aren’t you a crafty one, _Elric_.” Ed whipped around to see Envy standing behind him. “And all to protect a stupid girl.”

“Hey, Envy. I notice you’ve still got some red paint in your hair from that _stupid girl_.” Envy roared in anger, but something else was what hit Ed from behind. He turned, half dazed, to see Gluttony standing behind him with one finger in his mouth, the other hand outstretched from hitting Ed.

“That was dirty,” Ed remarked before falling to the ground, unconscious.

 

 

 _Bang, bang, bang._ Cheyanne rose sleepily to the knock on her door and pulled on her robe, slipping her feet into a pair of slippers.

 _Bang, ba-_ She opened her door to a _very_ distressed suit of armor.

“Alphonse,” she yawned, “it’s the middle of the night. What do you want?”

“Please, you have to help me! Ed’s been kidnapped!”

 

 

“Okay, Al, tell me what you know.” Al was sitting in Cheyanne’s kitchen as she sipped coffee, now fully dressed.

“I was up in our hotel room, and I saw Envy and Gluttony grab Ed! By the time I got down, they were gone, and I have no idea where they’ve gone! Please, do you know anything?”

“You woke me up. I have no idea what’s going on. She pulled a map of central out of a drawer and circled the hotel. “Now then. How long would you say it took you to get down the stairs?”

“I don’t know, probably a minute or so.”

“There weren’t any craters or any signs that they could have jumped onto the roof?”

“No. They definitely ran.”

She nodded. “Let’s see… if they were running with an unconscious Ed… they were out of sight within a minute… They would have had to turn here… unless… Mugger’s Alley!” Alright, Al, find more help and meet me here.” She circled a building in red. “I might already be gone, so I’ll leave a note, or something.” She grabbed her jacket and ran out the door. Al squinted at the circled building.

“Badeshi’s bar?”

 

 

The door to Badeshi’s bar slammed open as a girl in a blue jacket burst in.

“Alright, have any of you seen a walking palm tree and a tub of lard with a blonde pipsqueak come through here?”

“Yeah,” someone called, “They’re in my bed! Want to come see, sweetheart?” The rest of the bar laughed. Their laughter died abruptly when the girl marched to the man who had called and pinned him to a wall by his neck.

“Try that again, and we’ll see exactly how _sweet_ I am, _sweetheart_.” A complete hush fell over the bar. She dropped him. “I’m going to ask again. Where are they?”

“We haven’t seen anything. Not that we would remember.”

“Really. A walking palm tree is hard to remember.” Ah. She hadn’t imagined it. A distinct growl when she described Envy as a palm tree.

“I think we’d remember a palm tree. We don’t get many of those in Central.”

“You’re all sure? He would have been a little shorter than me, palm tree head, and the _stupidest_ outfit you’ve ever seen.” That was it. A distinct growl. She marched and stood nose to nose with the guy who’d growled. “Found you, palm tree.”

The muscly man shimmered and got smaller, greenish hair sprouting from his head. “Oh, very good,” he growled, “For our next trick, let’s stab you and wait for you to bleed out before hanging your guts from the ceiling.”

“Where’s Ed?”

“I don’t really think you’re in a position to ask questions.”

“Really? It’s just the two of us.”

“And a bar full of killers and other criminals. Hey! If you lot can kill this girl, I’ll pay every one of you!” All eyes snapped towards Cheyanne.

“Oh, you’re clever.” Envy slipped off as Cheyanne turned to deal with the thugs that now wanted to kill her. She slipped up into the rafters and hid in the shadows. Then, in a perfect imitation of Envy’s voice, she yelled, “I changed my mind! Only the person who kills her gets paid!” She watched as the bar erupted into chaos, everybody trying to keep everybody else from killing her. She slipped off after Envy.

 

Envy disappeared down a trapdoor, and Cheyanne followed. There were strange doors and rooms full of chimeras. Cheyanne shivered. This place was a death trap. The sooner she found Ed, the better. She heard a slight groan and ran towards it. Ed was sitting in a cell, chained to a wall, seeming to have just woken up.

“Ed,” she whisper-yelled, “are you okay?”

“Cheyanne?”

“In the flesh. Hold on, I’ll get you out of there. She opened a tube of blue paint and some blue floated out, slithered into the lock and broke the door. She ran in and used her blue to slice off the chains connected to the wall. “Sorry, I can’t get them off your wrist. I don’t really have time.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Rescuing you.”

“Where’s Al?”

“Presumably getting help. Come on.”

“You came to get me by yourself?”

“Well, we didn’t exactly have the time to get anybody, especially since not many people are supposed to know about the homunculi.” They raced through the hall. Cheyanne heard a growl behind her, and she turned to see all the chimeras released from their cages, Envy with them.

“Well, well. It seems like we have a breakout. I suppose those thugs failed to kill you?”

“It wasn’t hard to turn them on themselves.”

“This is why I don’t like to trust hired help.” He looked at the chimeras. “Kill her. Keep the blonde one alive.” They snarled and Envy let go of their leashes. They ran towards Ed and Cheyanne, barking, growling and hissing.

“Run!” Ed grabbed Cheyanne’s hand and pulled her down the hallway. There was a hiss and Ed yelled in pain, tripping and falling. A snake with fur all over it had sunk its fangs into Ed’s heel.

Cheyanne crushed the snake with her foot, dragging Ed into a side room. “Well, you know what they said,” she remarked in disgust as she bent down to examine Ed’s heel, “They shall strike at your heel, and you shall strike at their heads.” A green was spreading up Ed’s ankle, fast. “Ed, this is going to hurt.” She pulled out a little knife and sliced into his ankle. He screamed, but she put a hand over his mouth. “Hush, they’ll hear you.” He nodded, and she pulled her hand off of his mouth. Cheyanne expertly squeezed Ed’s heel, getting a couple of whimpers, and the venom oozed out of the cut. She made a face of disgust, but made similar cuts in other areas where the venom was spreading and squeezed it all out. “Can you walk?”

“I think so. Where did you learn to do that?”

“Dragon-bite viper. They were common in my area, and this happened probably twice a week in the village. Everybody knew how to extract venom. Another way, if they bit you on the neck, so cutting would be a bad idea, would be to suck it out.”

“Well, I’m glad you didn’t resort to that, even if you did slice open my leg.”

“Alright,” Cheyanne said, peering out the door, “It looks like the coast is clear. Let’s go.” They cautiously crept out of the room and walked down the hallway. Another growl sounded behind them.

“Oh, great. Another one.”

“Run?”

“Run.” They tore down the hallway, Ed limping slightly. Cheyanne turned and squirted a blob of red paint out of her tubes, using it to slice at the chimera. The chimera ignored it and bit down on her arm, hard. She screamed.

Ed turned and transmuted his arm into a blade, slicing the chimera’s head off. “You alright?”

Cheyanne examined her bleeding arm and nodded. “I’m fine. We have to keep going.

“Brother!” Al came tearing down the hallway.

“Al!”

“Did you bring help?”

“I couldn’t convince anyone, so I came myself. Are you alright?”

“We’re fine. Let’s go.” Al nodded and they kept running.

Cheyanne looked behind her. She could hear the homunculi and chimeras getting closer. Her heart sank. There was no way they could get out of this. Unless…”

“Al, Ed, you two get out of here. I’ll hold them off.”

“What? No way! We’re not going to leave you here!”

“You have to!”

“No!”

“Ed! You have to!” She pulled out her red color and sliced at the ceiling over Ed’s head without either of the brothers noticing. A small amount of rock tumbled off and landed on Ed’s head. He collapsed to the ground. Cheyanne bent down and felt his pulse. She nodded. “Just unconscious. I’d hoped I wouldn’t have to do that. Al, you have to get him out of here. Get out, get back to your hotel and get safe. I’ll be right behind you.” Al nodded and picked up Ed, running down the hall. Cheyanne turned back to the hall. How could she best collapse this hallway?

 

 

“All looked back in the hallway. There was a rumble and shake, and Cheyanne sprinted out of the shadows, waving her arms wildly.

“Go, go!” I collapsed the ceiling behind us, but they’ll find a way around it!” Al didn’t need any further encouragement. He sprinted for the exit, still holding his unconscious brother. A cry of pain from behind them stopped him in his tracks. He turned to see Cheyanne on the floor, her leg caught in a steel bear trap.

“Cheyanne!” He set Ed down gently and ran to her side, trying to pry open the trap.

“Al, it’s no use, you have to let me go!”

“No!”

“Al, you have to get out, get Ed out!”

“I can’t just leave you here!”

“Yes, you can! And you must! Al, look at me. Look at me.” Al obliged. “Al, Ed is depending on you. You have to get him out. The Homunculi don’t want me, they want you. You have to get out of here.”

“But…”

“I’m tough, I’ll survive.” She smiled at him. “Be brave.”

He nodded and picked Ed up, disappearing into the darkness. Cheyanne smiled tiredly, looking for the release for the bear trap. She opened it and slowly eased her leg out, hissing in pain. She sat up and faced the hallway, tubes of color open, ready for anything.

 

 

“Where are they! What did you do, you little brat!” Cheyanne kept her mouth shut. The walls and floor were covered with colors, but her energy was spent now, and at the mercy of Envy. “ _Where are they_?! Which way did they go?!”

“You’ll _never_ find out.”

Envy kicked her in the side. “Brat! Where. Are. They.” Cheyanne revealed nothing, and envy kicked her again, this time in the jaw. “Tell me!” He kicked her again, and again, but she didn’t talk. “TELL ME!!!!”

“When… hell… freezes… over,” she panted, a grim smile of satisfaction on her bruised and bloody face. “You can’t have them.”

“I suppose you think we can’t figure it out on our own? We can. You are _worthless_.”

“Then… why… are… you… bothering.”

Envy put his face very close to hers. “Because I can.” And then he stepped back after one last good kick. “Kill her.” The chimeras howled and jumped.

“Wait.” One chimera got its teeth into her shoulder and she howled in pain before the voice yelled again. “I said wait!” The chimera backed off whimpering, and before she faded into unconsciousness, Cheyanne saw a small form smile coldly at Envy. “We can use her.”

 

 

“Al?”

“Brother! You’re awake!”

Ed sat up, holding his head with a groan. “Hey, Al. Where are we?”

“Back at the hotel. I couldn’t think of where else to bring you.”

Ed sat bolt upright “Cheyanne! Where is she?”

“She… This is a long story.”

 

 

“She’s gone?”

“I’m sorry, Brother! I never wanted this!”

“No…”

“I didn’t have a choice!”

“It’s not your fault, Al. It’s just… she’s a color alchemist.” He gazed out the window. “The power to destroy the world… in the hands of a scared fourteen-year-old.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist describing Envy as a palm tree.


	3. Chapter 3

“What do you want?” Cheyanne was trying her best not to sound scared, but she could hear the tremble in her voice.

“What color am I?”

“What color are you? What kind of a question is that?”

Envy sighed. “I knew it. Pride, she’s not Awake yet. She’s useless.”

A strangely child-like voice echoed from the shadows. “I wouldn’t say useless. If we can Awaken her powers, she won’t be useless.”

“She’ll also be more trouble than she’s worth for the first few weeks,” Envy muttered, “We’ve done this before, remember? They were _awful_.”

“But this one is already broken. She’ll be easier to manage.”

“Who are you calling broken? I’m not broken yet!”

“Case in point,” Envy sighed, “I _really_ don’t think it’s worth it.”

“Would you like to take it up with Father? Because he’s asked to see her.”

Envy backed off. “I’m just saying, when this goes terribly wrong, it won’t be my fault.” He opened the cell and unlocked Cheyanne from the wall, dragging her down the hall. “Come on. Father wants to see you.”

“I gathered that much from what Pride said. Speaking of whom, don’t lurk in the shadows, come and say hello.”

“I don’t lower myself to the orders of humans.”

“My, my. I can see how you got your name.”

“See what I’m saying? Stupid heroic type color alchemists.”

A monster made of shadow detached from the wall and grabbed Cheyanne by the throat. Envy dropped her. “Color alchemist, don’t meddle with me. Father may want you alive, but if he thinks you are worthless, I won’t hesitate to kill you. The only reason you are alive is because you may be useful. And don’t you forget it.”

“Way… to… hide… in… the… shadows,” Cheyanne choked out, “Real… brave… of you.”

The monster threw her to the ground in disgust. “Let’s get moving.

Envy yanked her to her feet and dragged her into a large room, a throne in the middle.

“I suppose you’re Father. Another figure hidden in the shadows.”

“That’s right, color alchemist.”

“What do you want _her_ for?”

“Well, as you know, we lost Lust. It would be helpful if we could have her again, and who better to put her in than a color alchemist?” Father got off of his throne and approached Cheyanne. “Are you ready, my dear?”

“I’m not your _dear_. I’m no one’s _dear_.”

“Oh, we found a feisty one, did we?”

“Unfortunately.”

“Hold her.” Envy held the struggling Cheyanne’s arms behind her back and Father approached. She gave him a good kick in the shins, but he still dropped the philosopher’s stone onto her leg wound. She howled in pain as her body furiously tried to reject the stone, bones breaking and then healing, veins bulging. Slowly but surely, the stone oozed right back out of her cut.

“Hmm. How disappointing. I felt sure that she would survive.” Father bent to retrieve the stone, but Cheyanne’s hand gripped his wrist.

“I’m not… dead… yet!”

Father pulled back in surprise. “Hmm. This is a surprise. I don’t believe this has ever happened before. This is interesting. You rejected the stone… but you lived.” His eyes glinted malevolently. “I should tear you apart and see what makes you tick. But I suppose it’ll be more interesting to watch it happen again. I’ll try again tomorrow. Take her back.” Envy dragged the limp Cheyanne back to her cell, to await the tortures of the next day.

 

 

 

“A color alchemist. You lied, then.”

“Yeah, well, I was slightly worried that you might _kill_ her.”

“But now she needs rescuing? Can’t she rescue herself?”

“She was injured. And, Colonel, whatever you think, she’s not dangerous. She’s just a girl.”

“I was just a boy once.”

“Just give her a chance. She can’t do any soul-sucking, and she isn’t likely to launch a coup, or murder anyone.”

“I don’t think I can take any chances.”

“Colonel!”

“Fullmetal, my hands are tied here. I won’t do anything, because I can’t! I’m being watched every second, and if I go after her, the Furor will know and I’ll be in prison before the day is out!” Roy took in a deep breath. “I can’t help you. Sorry.”

 

“Well, great. Now what?”

“We could try to rescue her ourselves.”

“Al, you saw what happened when the three of us were in there; _we_ barely made it out, and that’s when Cheyanne was in full fighting condition. How do you think it’s going to go when we’re trying to get an injured Cheyanne out?”

“It’s not like you to give up so soon.”

“Who said anything about giving up? Just because we can’t frontal charge, doesn’t mean we’re entirely out of commission.”

 

 

 

Cheyanne peeled back the makeshift bandages on her leg. The wound was still bleeding a little. Perfect. She pulled the russet color of the blood out and carefully pulled her shirt down a little to paint the homunculus tattoo on her chest, quickly pulling the T-shirt back up to cover what she’d done. If Father wanted a homunculus, then a homunculus he would get.

 

“Ready to try again, color alchemist?”

“Drop dead.”

“Unlikely to happen.” This time Father dropped the stone onto her shoulder. Perfect. When the stone oozed back out of the wound, Cheyanne didn’t let Father see. She quickly scooped it up and put it in her pocket.

“Well, then. Let’s see that sto- What’s going on here?”

“Why, Father, don’t you remember?” Cheyanne smiled as seductively as she could. “It’s me. Lust.”

“I don’t believe it. She accepted it.” Envy stared at Cheyanne, who continued to smile.

“Prove it.”

Cheyanne gritted her teeth and pulled down her shirt, revealing her “tattoo.” “There. See?”

“It really is you.”

“That’s right. Now, what are we going to do next?”

Father pinned Cheyanne to the wall. “How stupid do you think I am,” he hissed, “If you really were a homunculus, your wounds would have healed. Now, where is my stone.”

“Oh, aren’t we a clever one. You’re not going to ever get it back.” She smiled in satisfaction. “I swallowed it.”

“Never going to get it back, huh? We’ll see about that.” Father’s elbow slammed into her stomach, causing her to retch, but, of course, the stone was in her pocket. “You filthy creature! That is _mine_!”

“You sound… like… a four-year-old.”

He slammed her in the stomach again, and again. “Give it back or I swear I will rip open your belly and take it out myself!”

“You… won’t… _ever_ get it back… I’m giving it to the Elric brothers. They’ll get their bodies back, and then we’ll all bust down here and destroy all of you!”

He smashed her into a wall. “Is that a blaze of defiance I see? A glimmer of hope?” He rammed her into a window, the curtain falling off and letting in a blaze of light, illuminating the room. “We’ll crush it out of you as well as that stone!”

She skidded across the room, struggling to her knees. She couldn’t breathe. Everything felt tight, and she knew some of her ribs were broken. She choked on every breath

“Are you going to give it to me, or will I have to rip out your belly?”

She lifted her head, wiping away a smear of blood from her mouth and grinning. “You’ll crush my hope? Good luck. You know what you’ve done, you bastard?”

He paused in his rampage, clearly interested despite himself.

“You’ve given me light. And you know what I can see now?” He cocked his head, and her smile stretched across her face. “COLOR!!!!” She raised her arms, and a swirl of colors rose from the pipes, from the grey walls, from her own russet blood, from the sight of the blue sky in the window, swirling around her like a tornado, knocking away anything near her and sweeping her out of the room. Father, Envy and Gluttony chased after her, but she was far too fast for them and was gone within seconds.

 

 

 

“Are you sure I can’t do this?”

“No, Al. I told you, you can’t come.”

“Why not?”

“Because your armor is loud and conspicuous. You can’t help it, I know. But the fact is, you’re not stealthy. I’m sorry.”

“But what _can_ I do?”

“Wait here and be ready to fight anything behind me.”

“Okay. Fine.”

 

 

Ed was only a few feet into the hallway when a cyclone came whirling down the hallway, petering out a couple of feet away from him. Cheyanne tumbled out of it and stumbled a couple of steps before tripping and falling into his arms.

“Fancy meeting you here,” she remarked before her eyes rolled back into her head and her full weight was thrust on him.

 

 

“Cheyanne? Cheyaaaanne?”

Cheyanne’s eyes flickered open. “Ed?”

“Hey, you’re awake! Al, she’s awake!”

“I heard.” A suit of armor came into Cheyanne’s vision. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I got bulldozed,” she groaned, trying to sit up and failing.

“Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa!” Ed gently shoved her back onto the bed. “You gotta stay in there! You’re barely awake!”

“Like that’ll stop me.”

“Well, it better, or I’ll tie you down.”

Cheyanne frowned and squinted at Ed. “Ed… you’re red.”

“What, I got something on my face?” He scrubbed furiously at his mouth.

“No… You’re kind of… glowing red. And Al’s blue.”

Ed’s smile faded from his face as he took that in. “Oh.”

 

 

 

“So, I that’s your… soul?”

“Yeah.”

“I could control it if I wanted?”

Ed winced. “Yeah.”

“That’s… unsettling. I don’t think I want to do that.”

“I would prefer if you didn’t.”

Cheyanne brightened. “Oh! I almost forgot! I got you two something!” She pulled the philosopher’s stone out of her pocket. “I stole it from Father!”

“No way,” Ed breathed, “All that, and you stole it from this Father guy?”

“Yup!”

Ed took it from her hand gently. “You know what this means?”

“Yeah, you two can get your bodies back!”

Just as she said it, the stone dissolved into dust.

“What?!”

“How… Father. Looks like he’s got more than one trick up his sleeve.”

 

 

 

“You ready to go?”

Cheyanne nodded, picking up her bags. “Yeah. I can’t wait to see my brother again.”

“You never told me… Why did you reject becoming Lust? And why did you reject Father, after all that? All for a stone?”

“They’re bullies. That’s it, plain and simple. They’re four-year-olds playground bullies that never grew up.”

“You don’t like bullies, huh?”

“No. When I was… I don’t know, maybe five, my first day of school, my older brother got knocked down, and his alchemy books chucked into a puddle. I didn’t like that, so I stood up to them while my brother tried to salvage his books. You’d like my brother. He has these big round glasses and silvery hair that he swears was brown and I turned it grey, even though I’ve seen his baby pictures. He’s really kind, and he loves his books. But he loves me more. When I stood up to them, they knocked me down, and he left his books to help me. He… he got really beat up trying to stop them. Refused to use his alchemy to hurt them. He’s still got a scar on his eyebrow where one of them took a swipe with a knife. And I’ve hated people who prey on those smaller than them ever since.”

“Wow… I… I’m really sorry, Cheyanne.”

“It’s alright.” The train whistle blew. “Oh! I’ve got to go! See you around, Ed!” She gave him a hug and grabbed her bags, jumping onto the train as it started to pull out. “I’ll miss you!” Ed waved until the train was out of sight. He’d miss her too.

 

 

 

Cheyanne stopped in front of a big country house, letting out a deep breath. She hadn’t been here since their parents had died and she’d gone off to look for an alchemist. She hadn’t even written or called. She put her hand up to the door and hesitated. What if he hated her? Before she could change her mind, she raised her fist and knocked.

The door swung open to reveal a young man in his late teens, still as silver haired and near-sighted as the day she had left.

“Cheyanne?” His voice was barely more than a whisper.

Her eyes filled with tears. “Hi, Jasper. I’ve got a body now.”

“Cheyanne!” He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to his chest. “it’s you, it’s really you,” he repeated into her hair, “I can’t believe it!”

“I’m so sorry I left, Jasper. So, so sorry.”

He just held her. “It doesn’t matter,” he murmured, kissing the top of her head, “what matters is that you’re back.”


End file.
